NOTEBOOK
Radio uses alleged 'UH students' to fire up fans
By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Staff Writer
FRESNO, Calif. — Just in case a few Fresno State football fans aren't fired up enough for today's game with the University of Hawai'i, radio station KCBL is carrying hourly messages from two obnoxious UH students, "Wesley" and "Brandon" calling out Bulldog fans.
The alleged UH student named "Wesley" — with a midwestern accent — tells Bulldog fans "Hawai'i rules WAC football in your house."
He also counsels them: "don't worry, there's always next year."
"Brandon" promises a "severe butt-kicking" and demands Bulldog fans, "stop whining about our kicking their butts."
Coaches don't like Fridays: UH's June Jones says he doesn't like playing Friday nights at home because it inconveniences too many fans. But Jones says he is "OK with it" on the road despite the short week of practice it necessitates.
Of Friday night games, Fresno State's Pat Hill says, "I don't like 'em. I'd rather play Saturday afternoons at 1 p.m. — when college football is supposed to be played."
But Hill says, shaking his head: "We've got to play 'em (on Friday). You can't pay for the exposure we get. It is free advertising nationally. It helps the university. It helps Fresno and it helps us (recruit). You can't put a price on that.
"The trouble is it is either (good) exposure or you get exposed — like we did last week (in a 67-21 loss at Boise State). That's the price you pay when you play on a national TV game."
Weather watch: The forecast is for temperatures in the low 50s to high 40s for the game with a chance of showers.
Barking up wrong tree: Bulldog players say today's game is more about getting their team turned around than revenge for last year's loss at Aloha Stadium.
Fresno State, which had been 18th ranked, was knocked out of the national rankings with a 38-34 loss to the Warriors in 2001.
Defensive end Nick Burley says: "We need this game to get our own ship righted, not because of last year. This is a new season and we have to worry about what happens now, not back then."
Linebacker Marc Dailey said: "We need a win, but it isn't because of revenge."
House that FSU built: Fresno State says it will have the largest university-owned, on-campus basketball facility in the West when its 16,000-seat, 13-story Save Mart Center, which is currently under construction on the eastside of campus, opens in fall 2003.
The 2004 WAC Tournament is scheduled to be held in the $103 million facility that Fresno State officials say is being built without state money.
The facility will include 32 luxury suites costing $45,000 per year.
It will also be used by a minor league hockey team and hold concerts and special events.
